Child Marriage and Adolescent Motherhood: A Nationwide Vulnerability for Women in Bangladesh

Jahar Bhowmik, Raaj Kishore Biswas and Sorif Hossain
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Jahar Bhowmik: Department of Health Science and Biostatistics, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Raaj Kishore Biswas: Transport and Road Safety (TARS) Research Centre, School of Aviation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Sorif Hossain: Institute of Statistical Research and Training, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: The persistently high prevalence of girl-child marriage and adolescent motherhood is a public health concern in Bangladesh. This study investigated the division-wise prevalence and the influence of education and religious affiliation on child marriage and adolescent motherhood among women in Bangladesh along with their consequences using 15,474 women aged 15–49 years from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18. Staggeringly, 82.5% women were married before 18, 43.1% were married before 15, and 61.8% gave birth before 18 years of age. Binary logistic regression models for the complex survey showed that girl-children with primary, secondary, and higher secondary or above education were 16% (95% CI: 0.69, 1.03), 32% (95% CI: 0.55, 0.84), and 87% (95% CI: 0.10, 0.17) less likely to get married <18 years of age, respectively, compared to the uneducated. Also, girl-children with secondary and higher education were 21 and 83% less likely to become adolescent mothers, respectively, than the uneducated. Women married during childhood (<18 years) and adolescent mothers were 36 and 55% less likely to continue studies after marriage, respectively, and expressed that they significantly preferred a late marriage. Policy interventions need to address culturally-laden social norms influenced by religious-related beliefs, especially in rural areas.

Keywords: child marriage; adolescent motherhood; childbearing; vulnerability; education; religion; consequences; logistic regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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